Can a your sump ever be too big?

[dirtypants53]

I'm planning on drilling a 36Gal Marineland and installing a Synergy Reef Shadow overflow plumbed down to a Synergy Reef CL-44 Sump. Can a sump ever be too big? I was planning on using it as a refugium only in the beginning. My thoughts on going big on sump and other areas is one day i may be able to carve out a little more space in the house for a larger tank.

 

[wkscott]

NEVER can be too big. You'll be really surprised at how many things you'll find to put in the sump as time goes by.

 

[mcarroll]

Somewhere I read that for a large-scale tank (e.g. a zoo) they would design it to have a sump equal in volume to the display, and to have a "second sump" also of equal volume.

So even when using all caps, @wkscott is being understated when he says never too big.

The closest I've come to that, BTW, is my original setup where I had a 38 Gallon on top and a 30 Gallon underneath. The sump was never much more than 50% full though.

 

[dirtypants53]

Awesome, now to find/build a stand that will house such things and not look too goofy with a smaller tank on top.

 

[hart24601]

It would be hard to have a sump too big, however if you took it to an extreme and had like 500g for a 50g tank you would be paying a lot more to heat it and if not covered the RO/DI for top off would be quite a lot for 50g. But that is about it that I can think of.

 

[Reef2zach]

It would be hard to have a sump too big, however if you took it to an extreme and had like 500g for a 50g tank you would be paying a lot more to heat it and if not covered the RO/DI for top off would be quite a lot for 50g. But that is about it that I can think of.

Think about the water clarity though! I'd have like 30 filter socks and a 5 pound bucket of carbon in that bad boy

 

[DarkSky]

More water volume is always a good thing. Until it starts costing you too much money.

My first salt tank had a 40B sump and a 40B refugium on a 10g nano.

 

[Sm51498]

Only problem I see with a lot of sump volume is that you have to do bigger water changes to effect the same change but that should not really be a problem for most.

 

[SethOF]

More water volume is always a good thing. Until it starts costing you too much money.

I agree that the limit to the size of your sump is your wallet.

 

[SethOF]

Awesome, now to find/build a stand that will house such things and not look too goofy with a smaller tank on top.

The sump does not have to be under the display tank.

 

[thaitopher]

There is this one guy who made a youtube video that basically has a sump which us the size of an entire room to go with am aquarium that was only a couple hundred gallons. Cool, but not practical for most people

 

[Greaps]

I disagree sumps can be to large. It depends on your nutrient export methodology. If you rely on water changes to maintain a 20g tank, having a 40 gallon sump would mostly increase your work and cost to get consistent nutrient export via water changes. My theory on sump's is they need to be large enough to fit a methodology of nutrient reduction unless you have a sump room or just like experimenting. Everyday it seems people are figuring out a different way to achieve stable water.

.

 

[S&SReef]

I like big sumps and I will not lie.


I usually use 1/2 for a fuge.

 

[Kershaw]

I have seen lots of 40 breeders with 40 breeder sumps. I agree that it can never be to big. I always shoot for as big as I can fit in stand

 

[DayMan]

I'm running a 40B refugium and 40B sump under my 50 gallon grow out tank. More water volume makes it easier for me to keep parameters balanced and in check. not to mention greater expansion possibilities.

 

[JaimeAdams]

Who was it that had like a 100 gallon display tank with like a 500 gallon refugium and was able to grow delicate NPS long term like most of us grew gsp or xenia starting out?

 

[cloudisback1997]

You can not go wrong with a bigger sump. However if it was a sump smaller then recommend size, you would have a problem with your sump overfilling in the event of a power failure.